Phew, that was a tough one! Harder, than I thought it was going to be! When developing a collection, there is so much to consider that it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what is relevant to your school community – and since it is a fluid and ever-changing environment, constant reflection is needed to ensure that the criteria you have chosen stay relevant!
Something I got specifically from this task was that teacher-librarians use criteria almost subconsciously. Not that this is an excuse to just “wing it” – it is important to have these criteria as part of your development policy. This allows teacher librarians to fall back and justify decisions in case they are ever questioned about their choices
This is particularly relevant when looking at the freedom of information acts impact on our choices. What is considered controversial to one person may not be to someone else as morals and ethics are very subversive.
I didn’t realise just how much went into my decision-making process when purchasing resources for my school – and how much we need to adjust our own development policy currently!
